research ethics again - students and FB
Dear AoIRists, What are your thoughts regarding the following? A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS. I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned). But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem. Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no
On 10/01/18 14:43, Charles M. Ess wrote:
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
Is the use of facebook necessary for this research? Are the role-playing accounts interacting with the wider network or just with each other? If the role-playing accounts are only interacting with each other then could a self-hosted open source social network system be used? This would bypass facebook ToS issues. Daniel -- Dr Daniel R. Thomas Researcher, Cambridge Cybercrime Centre, University of Cambridge GE20, Computer Laboratory, 15 JJ Thompson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0FD, UK Honorary Research Associate, Peterhouse, Cambridge
Thanks, Daniel, On 10/01/18 15:55, Daniel Thomas wrote:
On 10/01/18 14:43, Charles M. Ess wrote:
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
Is the use of facebook necessary for this research? Are the role-playing accounts interacting with the wider network or just with each other? If the role-playing accounts are only interacting with each other then could a self-hosted open source social network system be used? This would bypass facebook ToS issues.
Excellent points and considerations! But, FWIW: FB was chosen precisely in order to be accessible to a larger public, both online and offline (e.g., activities affiliated with the project coordinated online and involving representing the fake personas offline). Again, many thanks! best, - c. -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no
I'm curious how they will build a network with a fake profile. Are they going to set up an entire fake profile and contribute to larger public discussions (ex: FB groups or a post from an account they follow) without having any friends? To me, if I saw that I would immediately assume it was a fake account and I doubt I would engage with it in a realistic/natural way. Are they going to try and friend random people? One another? People they know? Another option might be a site where people are typically anonymous or use pseudonyms such as Twitter, Snapchat, or Reddit. Reddit, in particular, would let you get around the problem of not having anyone following/friending the account. But it would have to be a different kind of project since with few exceptions people do not follow account names outside of a single thread. If you want to explore a more Goffman-esque set of questions, Instagram might be quite interesting. Best Liz On Wed, Jan 10, 2018 at 10:30 AM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no> wrote:
Thanks, Daniel,
On 10/01/18 15:55, Daniel Thomas wrote:
On 10/01/18 14:43, Charles M. Ess wrote:
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
Is the use of facebook necessary for this research? Are the role-playing accounts interacting with the wider network or just with each other? If the role-playing accounts are only interacting with each other then could a self-hosted open source social network system be used? This would bypass facebook ToS issues.
Excellent points and considerations!
But, FWIW: FB was chosen precisely in order to be accessible to a larger public, both online and offline (e.g., activities affiliated with the project coordinated online and involving representing the fake personas offline).
Again, many thanks!
best, - c.
-- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Dear Charles, TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it. Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it’s problematic. Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA
On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no> wrote:
Dear AoIRists,
What are your thoughts regarding the following?
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.
Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Its worth pointing out that US research university IRBs now fairly routinely approve TOS violations, including egregious ones like creating networks of fake accounts and flooding platforms with large numbers of false requests or posts, placing and immediately canceling false orders, etc. The use of minors would likely give pause, but in terms of what an American IRB would approve today, most of the institutions that I've spoken with in the course of my series on data ethics would likely approve this project (see below). Whether others agree such work is ethical is an open question, but absent the issue of minors, the TOS violations are surprisingly pretty much ignored by IRBs today. Canadian IRBs I've spoken with also seem to approve TOS violations as a matter of course. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2016/06/17/are-research-ethics-obs... https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2017/05/01/how-facebook-secretly-t... https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2017/07/20/should-open-access-and-... https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2017/09/01/a-case-study-in-big-dat... https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2017/09/16/ai-gaydar-and-how-the-f... https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2017/10/16/is-it-too-late-for-big-... Kalev On Wed, Jan 10, 2018 at 12:28 PM, Christopher J. Richter < crichter@hollins.edu> wrote:
Dear Charles,
TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it.
Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it’s problematic.
Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA
On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no> wrote:
Dear AoIRists,
What are your thoughts regarding the following?
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.
Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/ listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical. Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate. None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons. Cheers, DLB Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote:
Dear Charles,
TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it.
Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic.
Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA
On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no> wrote:
Dear AoIRists,
What are your thoughts regarding the following?
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.
Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
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--
Further, the U.S. 9th Circuit just ruled that violating a website’s terms of service is not, in and of itself, a crime. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/ninth-circuit-doubles-down-violating-w... -- Michael Zimmer, PhD Associate Professor, School of Information Studies Director, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu> w: www.michaelzimmer.org<http://www.michaelzimmer.org> On Jan 10, 2018, at 3:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk@uci.edu<mailto:dburk@uci.edu>> wrote: So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical. Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate. None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons. Cheers, DLB Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote: Dear Charles, TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it. Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic. Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no>> wrote: Dear AoIRists, What are your thoughts regarding the following? A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS. I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned). But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem. Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ -- _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
I agree that both 1) the criminal aspect is not something I would worry about and 2) the IRB might actually be perfectly fine with it. A colleague of mine in grad school created fake accounts to examine selfie posting behaviors of teenagers and our IRB did not care at all about that ethical piece of her research. Whether the study design is ethical, however, is a somewhat different question and one that you should co-determine with your students. It might be a fantastic lesson to read about research ethics particularly with a focus on new media (including something from Kalev Leetaru's list of articles) and then have a guided discussion about how to construct an experiment that answers your RQ in an ethical way. They might surprise you with how thoughtful they can be on this subject considering so much of their own social lives are engaged via digital communications and networks. Let us know how it ends up! Liz On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 11:48 AM, Michael T Zimmer <zimmerm@uwm.edu> wrote:
Further, the U.S. 9th Circuit just ruled that violating a website’s terms of service is not, in and of itself, a crime. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/ninth-circuit-doubles- down-violating-websites-terms-service-not-crime
-- Michael Zimmer, PhD Associate Professor, School of Information Studies Director, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu> w: www.michaelzimmer.org<http://www.michaelzimmer.org>
On Jan 10, 2018, at 3:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk@uci.edu<mailto:dburk@ uci.edu>> wrote:
So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical.
Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate.
None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons.
Cheers, DLB
Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar
On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote:
Dear Charles,
TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it.
Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic.
Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA
On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c .m.ess@media.uio.no>> wrote:
Dear AoIRists,
What are your thoughts regarding the following?
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.
Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/ listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/ listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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This is such an interesting thread! Charles, what are you trying to look at? What are the research questions/hypotheses? Rasha A. Abdulla, Ph.D. Professor Journalism and Mass Communication The American University in Cairo www.rashaabdulla.com Twitter: @RashaAbdulla <http://twitter.com/rashaabdulla> On Jan 11, 2018 11:21 PM, "Liz Crocker" <lcrocker@bu.edu> wrote:
I agree that both 1) the criminal aspect is not something I would worry about and 2) the IRB might actually be perfectly fine with it. A colleague of mine in grad school created fake accounts to examine selfie posting behaviors of teenagers and our IRB did not care at all about that ethical piece of her research.
Whether the study design is ethical, however, is a somewhat different question and one that you should co-determine with your students. It might be a fantastic lesson to read about research ethics particularly with a focus on new media (including something from Kalev Leetaru's list of articles) and then have a guided discussion about how to construct an experiment that answers your RQ in an ethical way. They might surprise you with how thoughtful they can be on this subject considering so much of their own social lives are engaged via digital communications and networks.
Let us know how it ends up!
Liz
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 11:48 AM, Michael T Zimmer <zimmerm@uwm.edu> wrote:
Further, the U.S. 9th Circuit just ruled that violating a website’s terms of service is not, in and of itself, a crime. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/ninth-circuit-doubles- down-violating-websites-terms-service-not-crime
-- Michael Zimmer, PhD Associate Professor, School of Information Studies Director, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu> w: www.michaelzimmer.org<http://www.michaelzimmer.org>
On Jan 10, 2018, at 3:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk@uci.edu<mailto:dburk@ uci.edu>> wrote:
So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical.
Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate.
None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons.
Cheers, DLB
Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar
On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote:
Dear Charles,
TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it.
Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic.
Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA
On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no <mailto:c .m.ess@media.uio.no>> wrote:
Dear AoIRists,
What are your thoughts regarding the following?
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.
Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/ listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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re: the terms of service issue, though this is by no means legal advice, I wrote up a legal/ethical analysis based on the also relevant recent LinkedIn case. https://medium.com/@cfiesler/law-ethics-of-scraping-what-hiq-v-linkedin-coul... The ACM SIGCHI ethics committee (disclaimer: I am on it) also wrote about this issue recently: https://medium.com/sigchi-ethics-committee/do-researchers-need-to-follow-tos... My personal take these days is that we should be thinking about potential harms - to both users and the company, and considering reasonable user expectations - probably more than legal problems though. Casey — Casey Fiesler Assistant Professor Department of Information Science University of Colorado Boulder On Jan 11, 2018, at 9:48 AM, Michael T Zimmer <zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu>> wrote: Further, the U.S. 9th Circuit just ruled that violating a website’s terms of service is not, in and of itself, a crime. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/ninth-circuit-doubles-down-violating-w... -- Michael Zimmer, PhD Associate Professor, School of Information Studies Director, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu><mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu> w: http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SIGlVo/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org<http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SIGlVo/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org> On Jan 10, 2018, at 3:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk@uci.edu<mailto:dburk@uci.edu><mailto:dburk@uci.edu>> wrote: So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical. Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate. None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons. Cheers, DLB Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote: Dear Charles, TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it. Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic. Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no><mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no>> wrote: Dear AoIRists, What are your thoughts regarding the following? A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS. I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned). But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem. Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no><mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org><mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ -- _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org><mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Very useful, especially the SIGCHI blog discussion. On the ethics of scraping, see some of the previous work Charles and I have done on the subject here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2037935 Cheers, DLB On 2018-01-11 15:47, Casey Lynn Fiesler wrote:
re: the terms of service issue, though this is by no means legal advice, I wrote up a legal/ethical analysis based on the also relevant recent LinkedIn case. https://medium.com/@cfiesler/law-ethics-of-scraping-what-hiq-v-linkedin-coul...
The ACM SIGCHI ethics committee (disclaimer: I am on it) also wrote about this issue recently: https://medium.com/sigchi-ethics-committee/do-researchers-need-to-follow-tos...
My personal take these days is that we should be thinking about potential harms - to both users and the company, and considering reasonable user expectations - probably more than legal problems though.
Casey
-- Casey Fiesler Assistant Professor Department of Information Science University of Colorado Boulder
On Jan 11, 2018, at 9:48 AM, Michael T Zimmer <zimmerm@uwm.edu> wrote:
Further, the U.S. 9th Circuit just ruled that violating a website's terms of service is not, in and of itself, a crime. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/ninth-circuit-doubles-down-violating-w...
-- Michael Zimmer, PhD Associate Professor, School of Information Studies Director, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu> w: http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SIGlVo/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org<http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SIGlV! o/http%3A %2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org> [1]
On Jan 10, 2018, at 3:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk@uci.edu<mailto:dburk@uci.edu>> wrote:
So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical.
Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate.
None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons.
Cheers, DLB
Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar
On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote:
Dear Charles,
TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it.
Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic.
Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA
On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no>> wrote:
Dear AoIRists,
What are your thoughts regarding the following?
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.
Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org [2] Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org [3]
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-- _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org [2] Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org [3]
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-- Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar Links: ------ [1] http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SIGlVo/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org<http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SI! GlVo/http %3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org> [2] http://aoir.org [3] http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Dear Casey, Michael, Alex, Peter, Dan, Christopher, Sohail, Rasha, Liz, kalev, yohanan, Ruth, and Daniel (whew!) First of all, a thousand thanks for all the comments, suggestions of resources, etc. I, at least, have found the thread to be most helpful. With world enough and time, I hope to consolidate all of this into something of a case study / resource list for inclusion in a resource data base on ethics that we hope to build up as part of our work on IRE. I may also need to apologize for any lack of clarity and/or giving the wrong impression. The case is not a current, "live" one, but part of a project I was recently asked to evaluate and, because of confidentiality requirements, can say nothing more specific about at this point in time. Again, all of your comments and contributions have been most helpful. One more terrific example of our "from the ground up" / dialogical approach to ethics - again, many thanks indeed. Best, - charles On 12/01/18 00:47, Casey Lynn Fiesler wrote:
re: the terms of service issue, though this is by no means legal advice, I wrote up a legal/ethical analysis based on the also relevant recent LinkedIn case. https://medium.com/@cfiesler/law-ethics-of-scraping-what-hiq-v-linkedin-coul...
The ACM SIGCHI ethics committee (disclaimer: I am on it) also wrote about this issue recently: https://medium.com/sigchi-ethics-committee/do-researchers-need-to-follow-tos...
My personal take these days is that we should be thinking about potential harms - to both users and the company, and considering reasonable user expectations - probably more than legal problems though.
Casey
— Casey Fiesler Assistant Professor Department of Information Science University of Colorado Boulder
On Jan 11, 2018, at 9:48 AM, Michael T Zimmer <zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu>> wrote:
Further, the U.S. 9th Circuit just ruled that violating a website’s terms of service is not, in and of itself, a crime. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/ninth-circuit-doubles-down-violating-w...
-- Michael Zimmer, PhD Associate Professor, School of Information Studies Director, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm@uwm.edu<mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu><mailto:zimmerm@uwm.edu> w: http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SIGlVo/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org<http://secure-web.cisco.com/1YfJi_8C0EP86lue7f3TStYfEgePMINPqhp22u2M-fc5hMQNFjczP6vM00jLRKeA5wWccPwh6b5RAmQYypotRYNtlyhUZI4CpmlJVjnSeYCa1offGLgsWdU6akWwCe-KQsAV6bmHtZ81ux0bKh2QTWv2EoyBglH3SN0AghS1oYeXw_ByIrlUh3w5nbpvWKYgvHOquC3q5j468VZU0VksVov6m6TBnsHqUfZgFiNdNzI0fu2nIGgSNP6rtvfkCxP5qVPieKoQS-K-ZrKvAOX5YUnYaIYr5ji33v0qOplUdqDNDgT-8HzoXiZGRu-ha5_kLWHMk6x8yf55vFQ0xMCYJWopiFJqaThywaX4irE-FhQVsLBEwxy1rj2CcuhWdl_fuhUIw3nme3rOnoizWKhGj_0yoEP4SmnFjy1lvha-5N_iFsn8ybyeBCE8le0SIGlVo/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelzimmer.org>
On Jan 10, 2018, at 3:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk@uci.edu<mailto:dburk@uci.edu><mailto:dburk@uci.edu>> wrote:
So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical.
Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate.
None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons.
Cheers, DLB
Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar
On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote:
Dear Charles,
TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it.
Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic.
Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA
On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no><mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no>> wrote:
Dear AoIRists,
What are your thoughts regarding the following?
A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.
Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no<mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no><mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org><mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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-- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no
Hi, This project is definitely problematic. I can't imagine an ethics committee authorizing minors to violate ToS, even with the written consent of their parents. A solution could be building your own social network in a "lab environment" with some open source software like https://www.opensource-socialnetwork.org/community or https://www.boonex.com/features . The software is free, available on almost any cpanel hosting, you can program your own simulations and you can even write the ToS. Yohanan Ouaknine PhD candidate @ Bar Ilan University, Israel -----Original Message----- From: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Charles M. Ess Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2018 4:44 PM To: air-l <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Subject: [Air-L] research ethics again - students and FB Dear AoIRists, What are your thoughts regarding the following? A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS. I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned). But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem. Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
participants (10)
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Casey Lynn Fiesler -
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